The Japanese Mind: Communication

This review will look at some select Japanese vocabulary that summarizes communication in modern Japanese culture, with Western culture as a point of comparison. The article, drawing on inspiration from ‘The Japanese Mind Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture — A Collection of Essays, Edited by Roger J. Davies, is designed to provide an overview of concepts unique to communication between Japanese people and in Japanese society, and also serves as an introduction to understanding Japanese culture.

AIMAI: AMBIGUITY IN JAPANESE LANGUAGE

Most of Japan is an island nation that is made up of uninhabitable mountainous regions. ©︎TOKI

Aimai — (adj) ‘A state in which there is more than one intended meaning, resulting in obscurity, indistinctness, and uncertainty’.

Unlike other cultures, ambiguity can be seen as a sign of politeness and respect, and is tied to the strong feeling of not wanting to show disrespect or to disagree with whoever one is conversing with.

The geography of Japan is said to have had great influences on this particular cultural value. As most of Japan is an island nation that is made up of uninhabitable mountainous regions, people had to learn to live together in small and tight-knit communities. Historically, farming required societies to pull together and work as a whole in harmony. In order to keep the group morale high and the community close, it was frowned upon to challenge authority or speak in a confrontational nature. For example, ‘maa-maa’ is best translated as ‘not so bad’ but in reality is more round-a-bout than this and can take on several meanings. Likewise, people would never expect to be told ‘no’ directly, instead offers are declined in an ambiguous way, with buffer words such as chotto (a little), demo (but), or kangaete-okune (I’ll think about it). As a result, responses often became ambiguous and words adopted multiple meanings. This led to fewer disagreements and thus harmony was maintained.

Within Japan, to speak too directly and openly may be seen as rude. Perhaps unintuitive to a Westerner, this is because it may imply that the speaker believes the listener has no prior knowledge of the topic of conversation. As Japan regards itself as an incredibly thoughtful and empathetic society, ambiguous conversation is seen as a polite and normal way of communication. Ambiguity allows people to read the social situation and thus determine who should take the initiative. In this way, ambiguity can be seen as a positive force in Japanese socializing.

CHINMOKU: SILENCE IN JAPANESE COMMUNICATION

Japanese tea ceremonies are conducted for the majority of the part in silence, with each participant understanding their roles of when and how to speak. ©︎TOKI

Chinmoku —(n)  ‘Silence as a form on non-verbal communication, with the potential for much meaning’

Quite unlike other cultures, silence can take many meanings in Japanese culture, depending on the situation and the relationship between whom the silence is shared. The presence of silence in conversation is quite commonplace in Japanese society — in classrooms, daily conversations, and even in business meetings. The reasons for this are twofold: historical factors and the dominance of group consciousness in Japanese life.

Historically, silence has represented a truthfulness that lies within the body — in the heart or belly. By contrast, the exterior features of a person — the face, the mouth, spoken word, and so on — have come to be associated with moral and cognitive falsity. These themes are believed to have their roots in Zen ideology. As such, too much speaking has negative connotations and silence, therefore, serves to reinforce the honesty of a statement.

In Japanese society, a strong sense of group consciousness prevails, and people tend to identify as a member of a group rather than as individuals. By virtue of this, it is considered bad manners as well as a danger to one’s social standing to speak out or speak ahead of someone with a higher social rank. This environment encourages silence, therefore, as people are cautious to offend those around them or to come across as arrogant or outspoken.

Together, these forces lead to conversations that are more frequently interjected with silence, but this does not mean the conversations are with less meaning. This implicit style of communication allows the Japanese people to have a greater understanding of one another’s moods and thoughts without having to ask.

HARAGEI: IMPLICIT COMMUNICATION

Haragei — (n) literally translated to English as ‘hara’ meaning ‘stomach’ or ‘belly’, and ‘gei’ meaning ‘art’, haragei is a way of exchanging feelings or thoughts in an implicit way. This relies on the universal ability of Japanese people to read between the lines, understanding others through non-verbal cues, context, body language, and other such indicators.

©︎TOKI

As a concept such as haragei does not exist directly in the English language, it can be difficult to fully understand unless one has lived in Japanese society for a significant period of time. It can be better to think about this concept as the comparison between ‘high-context’ and ‘low-context’ societies (here, ‘high’ does not mean ‘superior society’ in any way). In ‘high-context’ societies, very little information is contained in verbal messages. Instead, most of the information lies in either the setting or people who are part of the interaction. In contrast, ‘low-context’ societies present more information in verbal messages, and they value precision and lack of ambiguity more so in their spoken conversation. As a result, less meaning is left within the context of the interaction, the setting, or the relationship of the people taking part.

In ‘low-context’ societies, there is no such need for haragei. Central to haragei are the concepts of honne — related to the private, one's true self, and tatemae — typifying the persona and behavior exhibited to the public. Contrasting and complementary to each other, together the two concepts form the definition of haragei. From a young age, Japanese children are taught to use honne and tatemae properly, to not cause offense or arguments in public. There is skill in balancing these two concepts in situations. For example, in certain situations, where extra care should be taken to not cause offense or awkwardness, honne should be hidden and tatemae exercised. One should also know when to use honne to be true to themselves and open to their loved ones.

communication as a reflection on culture

This small glimpse into the Japanese mindset through language looks into the finer details of communication, highlights some key differences between Japanese and Western communicative styles. While Westerners are often very comfortable in speaking their mind openly to many people, this is not the case in Japan. Arguably, the knock-on effects of this can be seen in other aspects of life. Expression and art are noticeably different. Design and style are different. Fashion is different. Gender roles in society are different. Keenness to speak out within group discussions is different. One could argue that each of these, and more, can be traced back to the differences in communication — inherently picked up through environment and nurture. This leads to a different default position of the self. While there is much variation across all cultures, Japanese people tend to be more internalized and think, before anything else, of the effect of their actions and words on others. Causing offense or argument is to be avoided at all costs.

We only see these differences so starkly now because the world is becoming increasingly globalized. People are able to visit and live in places that they did not grow up in, simultaneously witnessing and interacting with new cultures and communication styles.

At TOKI, we understand that the Japanese form of communication can often feel exclusive and intimidating for guests from overseas. This is why we aim to craft experiences that not only bridge that communication gap, but also allow for our guests to see and understand the beauty and complexity of Japanese communication and culture in its full context.